The Three
by Mage of Dragons
Summary: Three friends, killed in a tragic accident, are given a second chance at life, this time in Tortall. But how will they fare? And will they ever get back home?
1. Prolouge: The Accident

**_A/N: So, here is a new story for everyone. I hope it doesn't suck. Kelsey and Kai, I miss you.

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"You should have seen your face! __That _was hilarity on a log!" **

"You should have seen your face! was hilarity on a log!" 

"I know! How could you actually believe that Kori ran the 400 naked?"

"Or that she would ever even come close to beating Rachel!"

The two girls burst into laughter, brown ponytails bobbing. Their companion, a blonde-haired boy, looked at them with disgust.

"Yeah, yeah very _funny!_" he said, in his anger reverting back to his (slightly fake) English accent.

"Come on, Kai, lighten up. I mean, how could you be that gullible?" Kelsey, the shorter brunette asked. Her green eyes flashed with laughter.

"It's still not funny. That was over nine months ago. In eighth grade. Don't you think it's getting a little old?"

"Nope!" Kelsey and Rachel chorused.

"Hey kids. Can you keep it down? The roads are getting pretty rough here!" the bus driver shrieked to the three lone occupants of late bus #3.

They immediately shut their mouths. Even Kai, who had only been living in town for a few years, knew the dangers of the slippery, hilly, winter roads. And no one could forget the bus accident that had occurred the past fall, which had injured three of their friends.

Rachel pulled out a book, Tamora Pierce's _Squire,_ and was immediately absorbed in her favorite book. Kelsey pulled out her walkman and began to nod her head in time to the beat of what her friends called "Old Fogie Music," though no one quite knew what it was. Kai stared out the window, twirling a strand of blonde hair on the end of one finger.

Suddenly, the bus hit a patch of black ice as it sped down the hill, and it skidded onto a course perpendicular to its previous path. There was a high pitched squeal of the brakes that went off too late to save them, and then the bus hit the telephone pole and crumpled.

The three friends were thrown violently against the seats. The driver was killed instantly as the cab of the old yellow bus collapsed. There was no one to smell the acrid taint of the gasoline that leaked from the bus' broken tank. Rachel, Kelsey, and Kai were already unconscious.

Police investigators marveled at the wreckage when they arrived. The inferno had destroyed the entire metal bus frame. The bus driver's remains were found, but there was no trace of the three freshmen. All that was left was a strange, circular burn in the snow around the wreckage. There was nothing more.

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**_A/N: I know, it's not very TP-ey yet, but just wait for it. _**


	2. Chapter One: Welcome Home

**_A/N: So here it is. Chappie three._**

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"Ugh! What happened? I feel terrible!" Kelsey was the first to awaken. Though she felt bruised in a hundred places, and her head beat like a bass drum, her concerns turned quickly to her two friends. They were still lying prone upon the grassy ground, sprawled out as if they had been thrown there by some great force.

"Rachel! Kai! Wake up, you morons!" she screamed into their ears.

"Ow, Kelsey, don't be so _loud!" _Rachel moaned, and rolled back over, her hands over her ears.

"No, really. Wake up!" she kicked them both in the side. Kai cursed loudly.

"Okay, okay, I'm up. What happened?" Rachel said blurrily.

"Oh my freaking god!" Kai yelled, sitting straight up.

"What?" the two girls intoned

"The trees have leaves! They're, like, green!" He yelled.

"So what? Trees have leaves, duh!" Kelsey said mockingly.

"Yeah, Kelse, but there are no trees with green leaves during November in freaking _Connecticut!" _Rachel said hysterically, if not rationally.

"Something must have happened, then." Kelsey said, stating the obvious. Both of her companions made motions as if to smack her violently.

As they sat on the ground, dumbfounded and arguing, a figure approached them from the dark of the copse. Standing almost six feet tall, the strange figure was garbed in emerald and white velvet robes. Her lips were ruby red, her skin whiter than the snow that had dusted the ground of their hometown.

"Greetings, my strange children," the figure said in an eerie voice that sounded both aloud and inside the three's heads. Kai grabbed his ears in surprise. Kelsey stared at the "intruder" with hostile eyes narrowed to slits. Rachel stared at the figure in disbelief, overcome by a feeling of déjà-vu. Where did she recognize this person from?

"Welcome to your new home," the three opened their mouths to speak, but no words sounded. "Welcome to Tortall." Rachel stifled a silent gasp.

Finally, Kai found the strength to ask, "What happened? Why are we here?"

His harsh words did nothing to shatter the stranger's mysterious calm. "You three were killed in a terrible accident in your home country. However, we gods sensed that you could not be allowed to die. Therefore, we brought you here, instead, and instilled your spirits into bodies."

"You instilled our spirits into bodies? Like, bodies other than our own?" Kelsey asked nervously. The thought made her squeamish.

"Yes. These bodies were recently vacated in another accident that should not have occurred. However, we gods were not able to save the inhabitants. We had already used our available power saving_ you. _Therefore, you must take on the identities of the bodies."

"So, we're dead, we shouldn't have died, but now we're somehow alive, and we're in someone else's bodies, but they died, too, and now we have to pretend to be them?" Kai asked in an incredible run-on sentence.

"You must not pretend to be them, you must _become_ them. This is instrumental to your destiny. You must fulfill the role that they could not complete."

Rachel was now feeling _very _apprehensive. She had read too many fantasy novels to _not _know what would come next. "And what would that destiny happen to be?" _Please say something easy, please say…I don't know, make someone a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with our feet, please don't say…_

"To save the world." The stranger echoed Rachel's thoughts. "Yes, if you do not stop the terrible maelstrom of war that is about to engulf this world, there is no way we can ever hope to return you to your home."

"Why can't you just send us home now? Or why can't we just stay here?" Kelsey asked.

"Our powers now are too diminished by our efforts to hold back the flood of darkness. It was a miracle that we could even bring you here. Only once the darkness has been banished will we regain our full powers. And if you decide to not follow your quest, and simply remain here, then you will suffer the same fate as all of the other inhabitants of this world. You will die at the hands of the darkness."

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**_A/N: As always, review!_**


	3. Chapter Two: Life Rediscovered

**_A/N: Here it is. Enjoy!

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_**"Um, pardon me for asking, but, whose bodies these?" Kelsey asked.

The person_ you _must become is Kylseai vii Nassui. Kai will become Kaiathen sia Boujalet, and, Rachel, you will become Raiycal sii Kyiliet." All at once, the Goddess flooded their minds with information, memories, and instructions. They were the eldest children of the three Jindazhi ambassadors to Tortall coming to the great land to become pages, and (hopefully) one day, knights of the realm their parents now inhabited.

Rachel staggered suddenly as her mind opened to this body's past identity. She was overcome by this new onslaught; she had all of her memories of growing up and living in Connecticut, but, in an instant, another's memories were forced upon her, merging with her own. Her head throbbed and pulsed, trying to absorb this new information. She was no longer Rachel, but she was not Raiycal, either; she had become some strange mix of these two completely different people. It was as if she had lived two lives, unknowingly, up until this moment, but now the two had intersected and merged into one person. She somehow knew, that her decisions, her very _existence _from then on would be colored, controlled by this life she had never lived, and yet remembered, this part of her that was Raiycal.

However, it was Rachel's open-mindedness, her solid belief that magic and fantasy could and _did_ exist, that saved her. Her ability to hold onto fantasy while she dwelled in reality allowed another person's sprit to flow and mesh with her own easily. She could accept the fact that now, she was also this new person, who spoke Jindazhi and Common, who was raised to be a wife in a noble family, who had the Gift, and who wanted, above all things, to be a knight of Tortall. This Raiycal was a human being, and therefore not dissimilar to her; she slowly accepted this new girl and allowed her to become a part of her inner self.

Kai, however, was torn. The sensible part of his mind screamed that this was insane; this wasn't real; there was no way this could happen. The other part of his mind, the part that longed for something exciting and new, tried to embrace this new identity. The battle raged on inside his mind for a seeming eternity, but finally, the un-sensible part of his mind, so often ignored, won out. He slowly became that strange mix of himself (no, Kai, not himself, he was no longer _just_ Kai,) and Kaiathen. He now became a boy who had fought bandits and who had run his family's estate alone after his father died when he was six, who suffered beneath his imposing, stuffy stepfather, and whose only consolation was his ability to talk to animals. (_That's impossible! Animals are stupid; they can't talk!_ The sensible part of his mind screamed, insisting on one last word, even though his soul knew that it was so)

Kelsey's mind and spirit fought the intrusion with all of the ferocity she possessed. Her cocky self-confidence, her down-to-earth attitude, her desire to be the best, everything about her rejected the self of the quiet, timid, _romantic_ (she sneered at the word) Kylseai. She tried to burn the girl out of her mind. There was no welcome for her here, the soft-hearted _wretch_.

"My daughter, you must not fight. If you do not accept who you must become, you will die." The great mother said inside her head. For a moment, it seemed that the young girl would not comply, but suddenly, something inside her head clicked. Whether it was her will to live, the power of the Goddess' voice, or that she had let her guard down as the Great Mother Goddess spoke; somehow, she had relented and allowed Kylseai to become part of her.

"Yes, my Mother," she whispered, and for the first time in her life, willingly succumbed to the will of another.

Exhausted, the three fell onto the ground, unconscious.

"Good luck, my children. The lives of all depend on you now," the Goddess whispered before fading into the shadows of the trees.

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**_A/N: As always, don't forget to review!_**


	4. Chapter Three: Useless Material Memories

**_A/N: Wow, two chappies in a day. I rock!_**

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When the three awoke, it was almost dark. The sky was ablaze with crimson fire, the sun a brilliant orb of ruddy light. This was so unlike the winter skies at home, which would just dull, muting the earth with steely grey shadows, until the sun dipped bellowed horizon, and the whole landscape was plunged into sheer darkness. No, the sunset here was much softer, and the three friends set out to use the light that they had now. They knew from the goddess that their caravan, separated in the accident that killed Kaiathen, Kylseai, and Raiycal, would find them in this very spot sometime before nightfall.

The possessions that lay sprawled on the ground beside them belong to both of their identities. The travel rations, their acceptance letters from the training master, clothes and equipment lay side by side with all of the school things that they had carried with them on the bus.

"Let's see what we have from home," Rachel said. "I mean, home, home, not Jindazhen."

They all set out to find whatever lurked in the deep maws of their backpacks. What they found was surprisingly useless. The total list amounted to;

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_12 pencils_

_7 pens_

_4 hi-lighters_

_2 sharpies_

_Various notebooks _

_Scrap paper_

_2 Latin II textbooks_

_1 French II book_

_1 giant "Into to Physical Science" book_

_1 health book_

_2 geography textbooks_

_1 algebra II book_

_2 copies of Romeo and Juliet_

_1 copy of The Odyssey_

_Squire by Tamora Pierce_

_2 cell phones_

_1 iPod_

_1 walkman_

_2 graphing calculators_

_1 palm pilot_

_1 violin _

_1 set orchestra music_

_3 sets of soccer gear_

_3 half-eaten lunches_

_1 small jar of play-doh_

_And_

_1 stick of Adidas women's deodorant

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_

"Great," said Kelsey. "We're stuck here in some place that no one thinks exists, with a bunch of textbooks about things that don't even exist here, and cell phones that have no service. Even the music players will run out of batteries soon."

"Why me?" groaned Kai, "and why am I stuck here with you guys, of all people? I bet that this is all _your_ fault, Rachel!"

"Why me? I didn't do this!"

"Yeah, but I be that you dreamed that it would happen or something!" Kai retorted.

"And you were reading _Squire_ when the bus crashed, and you have all of that FanFiction stuff on your iPod," Kelsey put in.

"Yeah, but… you can't say that it's all my fault. You can't prove it. And, I mean, Kelsey's read all of the Tortall books too!"

"Yeah, but I hated them, and you're absolutely obsessed!" Kelsey yelled.

"I was also obsessed with Pern and you don't see us stuck _there_!" Rachel yelled.

"Thank god we're not somewhere with _dragons!" _Kelsey spat.

"Actually, they have them here, too," Rachel admitted.

"Oh, god!" Kelsey and Kai chorused vehemently.

Darkness was fast approaching, shown by the oncoming chill in the late summer air. In a sudden burst of insight, Kai suggested that they all hide their backpacks inside their Jindazhi packs, so that their man made cloth and bright colors could not arouse suspicion. ("It's not like anyone would have ever guessed this would happen," Kelsey grumbled.)

The result was packs that were more severely overstuffed than could be imagined, but they had to hope that no one would notice. As useless as their school things were, they were loathe to give up any connection to home. With that done, they lay down in the grass to await the caravan.

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**_A/N: Don't forget to review! Pretty please with whipped cream and a cherry on top!_**


	5. Chapter Four: Onstage Identity Crisis

**_A/N: So I saw on Facebook that it was Kai's birthday about a week ago, and I was like, hmmm, I should probably write another chapter of "The Three!" Because I haven't seen him since June, and this is my way of not forgetting Kelsey and Kai, since they both moved out of my school to go to private school. So, umm... here it is. Hopefully I'll put up another soon; I promise that there will be more action as soon as they get to Corus... and you might just get to see appearances by some of my favorite characters from another fandom. You'll just have to see..._**

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When the carriage devoted to carrying the three pages-to-be arrived, none of them was prepared for the sight it posed. Kelsey, Rachel, and Kai were astounded by the brightly hued fabrics and the detailed craftsmanship of the traveling wagon. Kelseai, Raiycal, and Kaiathen were astounded by the damage that had been done to their faithful guardians.

"Children!" Liya, Raiycal's childhood guardian and tutor exclaimed, running towards them, her brightly colored dress tattered and loose about her body as she ran towards them. "Are you all unharmed?" she asked in Jindazhi, her onyx eyes cautiously searching their bodies for harm. "The cliff… it crumbled without warning. We thought we had lost you." The woman was close to tears.

"We're fine, Liya," Kai said hesitantly, also in Jindazhi. The words tasted odd on his tongue. His mind knew how to say the words, but still, it was hard to move his mouth around the syllables. He finished his answer and frowned. Assuming Kaiathen's life would be much harder than he imagined. Even now, this strange sort déjà vu was complicating things. His two fused personalities and memories were constantly at odds with each other. He knew that he could speak Jindazhi, and yet, he also remembered never having have spoken a word of it in his life. The result was that his words came out in a garish and impossible blend of Jindazhi spoken with a half-English, half-American accent that made the three teens wince.

"Are you sure that you're fine?" the woman asked again eyeing them questioningly.

Kelsey closed her eyes and hoped that she could master more proficiency with Jindazhi than Kai had displayed. "Yes, we're fine," she said slowly, the result much more acceptable. "We're still just shaken up from the accident."

The words of her young charge seemed to strike a nerve with the maid, and she clicked her tongue thoughtfully. "Of course you wouldn't be yourselves after such trauma! Come, children, we have tea and bread over here. It's not much, but it was all that we salvaged. We will just have to manage until we reach Corus." Liya drew them over to the other side of the caravan, where three men sat around the fire. One sported a large bandage around his head; another had his arm in a sling.

The surviving servants who had accompanied them seemed to cheer immensely at the sight of the three teens. Shadows still remained in the strained faces, reminders of how close they had come to death, but with Raiycal, Kaiathen, and Kelseai's return, their eyes seemed to brighten a tiny bit.

Glad to use the excuse of being shaken up by the accident, they ate silently and quickly retreated into the caravan with little resistance. There, the propped themselves on their packs and lay in heavy silence, pondering the situation and their newfound identities. Last night, they had been too tired and too shocked to think before falling asleep. Now, the entirety of their situation had begun to catch up with them.

_Who am I? _Kai thought, staring at the covered roof. Up until yesterday, he had thought he knew. The "British Guy," the actor, the musician… he wasn't that boy any longer. The old Kai was still buried there, somewhere, but it was a distant memory. At the same time, Kaiathen's memories were embedded deep inside him, but the other boy's consciousness was not there. With two sets of memories crammed inside his head, Kai almost expect to hear Kaiathen's words inside his head. _It's almost like I'm schizophrenic, _he thought curiously, _but the person inside my head is me… whoever I am. _

It was a long while before he closed his eyes and let sleep overtake him, still disappointed by his lack of resolution. All he knew was that, whoever he was, it would take a _long _time to sort his identity out. Until then he would have to act, just like he had done in all the school productions. Only now, things were completely different. That strange woman's voice echoed in his mind… "To save the word." She had said it calmly, almost matter-of-factly. If what she said was true, then things had just become much more serious than anything else in his life.

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**_A/N: There's not much to review here, but, still, reviews always make me update faster!_**


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